Entry revised for OED Online

Glasgow kiss, n.

DRAFT REVISION Apr. 2007

Brit. slang

[< Glasgow, the name of a city in west central Scotland + KISS n., in humorous allusion to the reputation for violence accorded to some parts of the city. Cf. earlier *Liverpool kiss s.v. LIVERPOOL n.]

A head-butt.

1982 Daily Mirror 2 June 7/2 Glasgow has its own way of welcoming people... There is a broken bottle gripped in the fist of greeting. Or there's the Glasgow Kiss—a sharp whack on the nose with the forehead.

1987 Financial Times 25 July (Weekend section) p. viii/1 The great politcian, kneeling to receive a blessing.., rose too soon and inadvertently administered what is known in some circles as a Glasgow kiss. 1997 C. BUTTS Is Harry on Boat? (2001) xv. 247 The slap hurt. Rick's instinctive reaction was to give her a Glasgow kiss, a knee-jerk reaction to the stinging pain, but the impulse passed in seconds. 2002 Daily Record (Glasgow) (Electronic ed.) 9 Aug., One of them delivered a Glasgow kiss

flesh on flesh, bone on bone

to a younger man.